Why do French people do that?

     My girls love listening to audio books in the car. We always have one in the CD player. I like them, too. It has been fun revisiting or hearing anew books for kids. My faves have been the books written by E.B. White because he reads the stories. How cool to hear the author reading his own books. Can't decide if I liked Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little or Trumpet of the Swan best.

     Which was your favorite kids book? Maybe the library has it on audio and you can listen in the car. No one else has to know. My lips are zipped.

     From time to time we select an audio book I realize is too old for them. But by the time I figure out they are hooked on the story. For example, there is a series written by Jennifer Allison about a young lady who considers herself to be a psychic investigator. We've listened to three books in the series. It was the second book, Gilda Joyce: The Ghost Sonata, which was too mature for Panda and Poodaloo. In the story, 14 year old Gilda receives her first kiss. Afterward, in the way of teenage girls, Gilda and her friend Wendy Choy talked about the kiss. To wit*, it wasn't a French kiss, just a regular kiss.

     As you might imagine, Panda and Poodaloo wanted to know what is a French kiss. I always try to be factual & matter of fact when they ask questions of that nature, so I briefly described a French kiss. At the time, that completely satisfied their curiosity and they continued listening to the story.

     Several weeks later, Poodaloo mentioned she and Panda had tried French kissing. Then she said, "Mama, why do French people do that? It's just sharing germs! Yuck!"

     Totally cracked me up.

* Meaning of 'to wit' in case you aren't sure (like me).